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Nation and World

US tries saving Taliban talks after Karzai objects

Hopes dimmed for talks aimed at ending the Afghan war when an angry President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday suspended security negotiations with the U.S. and scuttled a peace delegation to the Taliban, sending American officials scrambling to preserve the possibility of dialogue with the militants.

Militants storm U.N. compound in Somalia; 20 killed

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Seven al-Qaida-linked militants on a suicide mission attacked the U.N. compound Wednesday with a truck bomb and then poured inside, killing at least 13 people before dying in the assault.

Bulger ex-enforcer grilled about varying stories

BOSTON — An ex-hit man who admitted killing 20 people insisted Wednesday that he told authorities the truth when he implicated James “Whitey” Bulger in 11 of the slayings, but he acknowledged lying in the past, including to his close friend just before he shot him in the head.

Baked Alaska: Unusual heat wave hits 49th state

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A heat wave hitting Alaska may not rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the days of hot weather feel like a stifling oven — or a tropical paradise.

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FBI digging at former home of famed New York mobster

NEW YORK — Jackhammers are digging under a New York City house once occupied by a famous gangster who is said to have buried victims in familiar places.

Study: Wiser use of prescription medicines could cut health costs

TRENTON, N.J. — If doctors and patients used prescription drugs more wisely, they could save the U.S. health care system at least $213 billion a year, by reducing medication overuse, underuse and other flaws in care that cause complications and longer, more-expensive treatments, researchers conclude.

Men’s Wearhouse ousts founder, pitchman Zimmer

Apparently, Men’s Wearhouse Inc. doesn’t like the way its founder looks anymore.

In a terse release issued Wednesday, Men’s Wearhouse said it has fired the face of the company and its executive chairman, George Zimmer, who appeared in many of its TV commercials with the slogan “You’re going to like the way you look. I guarantee it.”

‘Man of Steel’ promoted from the pulpit

Warner Bros. has enlisted Christian-focused firm Grace Hill Media to promote “Man of Steel” to faith-based groups by inviting them to early screenings and creating trailers that highlight the film’s religious themes.

FBI ends hunt for ex-Teamster boss Hoffa’s remains

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A search of a rural field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, an FBI agent announced Wednesday as authorities ended the dig.

House passes far-reaching anti-abortion bill

WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House on Tuesday passed a far-reaching anti-abortion bill that conservatives saw as a milestone in their 40-year campaign against legalized abortion and Democrats characterized as yet another example of a GOP war on women.

 
Brazil protesters keep up pressure on government

SAO PAULO — Protest leaders called for another huge demonstration in Brazil’s largest city Tuesday, building on historic turnouts spawned by widespread frustration over decades of government red tape, high prices and shoddy services even as the nation’s economic fortunes have risen.

 
NSA director says plot against Wall Street foiled

WASHINGTON — The U.S. foiled a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange because of the sweeping surveillance programs at the heart of a debate over national security and personal privacy, officials said Tuesday at a rare open hearing on intelligence led by lawmakers sympathetic to the spying.

Chrysler reverses position, agrees to Jeep recall

In one of the biggest-ever showdowns between an automaker and the government, Chrysler on Tuesday is expected to file papers explaining its refusal to recall 2.7 million older Jeep SUVs that are at risk of catching fire in rear-end collisions.

Authorities: Unattended campfire caused California fire

MARIPOSA, Calif. — An unattended campfire near a main route into Yosemite National Park has grown into a more than 2-square-mile blaze that officials said Tuesday has led to the evacuations of 800 homes and 1,500 people.

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